The Queen Conch Hatchery Curacao is part of CSA and is currently on the search of
a full-time aquaculture/marine biology student for a minimum period of five
months. The focus of the Internship is to learn and experience the work inside of the
hatchery daily operation by participating in different tasks and exercises to
maintain and improve this unique facility.

Potential Fields
Aquaculture, Marine Biology, Marine Science, Animal Husbandry, Environmental Science, Fisheries

The available projects for the internship are briefly described below.

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Some of the everyday activities:

• Maintaining the seawater supply system (Filters)

• Properly clean and sterilize tanks and other equipment

• Collecting egg masses in the dolphin pools

• Daily feeding of the veliger larvae, metamorphosed conch, and juveniles

• Every other day: changing water and cleaning the 500 liter veliger larvae tanks

• Every other day: cleaning metamorphosed conch and juvenile trays

• Once a week: cleaning metamorphosed conch and juvenile tanks

• Inducing metamorphosis of the veliger larvae into small crawling snails

• Carry out daily observations and measurements of the eggs, veliger larvae and meta conch

• Logging all relevant information collected in specific data sheets or software

• Maintenance of microalgae cultures (Under strict supervision):

  • ​Inoculating from test tubes, to Erlenmeyer’s, to carboys, to sun tubes

  • Counting microalgae cells, keep track of growth, record the data

  • Flocculation of Chaetoceros for feeding the early stage juveniles

  • Maintaining, cleaning, and sterilizing all equipment and working area

• Preparing the food for the larger juveniles

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Potential research possibilities (focused on optimizing growth and survival):

• Optimize feeding of juvenile conch: maximum nutrition for limited costs

• Study relation between mobility of Isochrysis and the quality of Isochrysis as food for the veliger larvae

• Optimize juvenile tray culturing: tray size, stocking densities, sand quality, mesh type

• Study advantages of using unfiltered water for juvenile culturing in trays/tanks

• Competition and predation in the metamorphosis and juvenile tanks

• Study conch behavior and translate this to optimal housing of the juveniles

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Does this sound like an amazing opportunity for you? Contact us for the full vacancy description at info@abccompas.com.